Daniel Libeskind

Mr. Libeskind, 63, is a co-founder, with his wife, Nina, of Studio Daniel Libeskind, and is its principal design architect.

He is currently involved in more than three dozen projects worldwide, including the massive New Songdo City, in South Korea, but is best known for his work as the master plan architect for the reconstruction of the World Trade Center.

Q Are you disappointed that the rebuilding at ground zero hasn’t progressed further?

A Look, it’s clear that this is such a highly complicated project. We’re dealing with not only the Port Authority and the investors and their own architects, but we also have different governors, and, of course, families of the victims, the lawyers and the banks.

But we’re beginning to see some of the foundations. The Freedom Tower, as it used to be called — it’s One World Trade Center now — is under way. You can see it in the important corner that it’s occupying. It’s all gradual: the memorial will open, then Tower Four, then the PATH tunnel, then the Freedom Tower.

A It’s a constant challenge — democracy is never easy. I appreciate that there are different forces and my role is to bring consensus, and that doesn’t mean I get everything I want. You lose some of those battles and you have to compromise on issues, but you are never going to quit. I believe that what is being built is aligned with the ideas that were chosen.

A First of all, this is a story of memory — so many people perished — but also memory of what liberty means, what New York means, that this event isn’t going to change New York into a sad city. It’s about the past, which is irreversible, but also the future.

Q How is this balance achieved?

A It’s 16 acres, and a little less than half of that site is for public space, so that it isn’t just crowded with a lot of buildings. And nothing is actually built on the site where people perished, so that it has a spiritual quality. It’s a park. It has waterfalls, which was part of my idea to screen the sound of the streets.

At the same time, I assembled the buildings so they don’t throw shadows on the memorial site. Buildings facing the memorial have a different character than buildings facing Church Street.

Q How important was it for you to win this project?

A It was extremely important. I go by the site every day, I live by the site, so it’s not an abstract idea. I saw the original towers being built when I was in school.

Q Before the World Trade Center, you had completed only a handful of projects. Now you have about 40. It’s safe to say this catapulted business.

A For sure. Your name appears in the public realm, even when you don’t want it to appear.

Q Your designs have a sculpturelike quality, which some may find jolting. Have you ever been told that they’re unbuildable?

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A Definitely. But I don’t find it as something evil or negative. I try to understand my clients — first of all, they have a budget.

Q Many call you a “starchitect.” How does that make you feel?

A I couldn’t care less.

But the truth is people have rediscovered architecture. Ground zero had a lot to do with raising expectations, because it was a public process and people were very involved and there was an emotional resonance.

I consider this a renaissance: a rediscovery that architecture isn’t just a bunch of concrete slabs, that it’s cultural and has to have a sustainable idea to it.

Q Let’s talk about sustainability.

A Sustainability isn’t just a reference to new technology, it’s a rebirth of the idea that buildings are not just consumer items. They’re not like cars or hair dryers or refrigerators — you don’t build them and throw them out. They have to connect with the place in which they stand.

Q You were an accomplished musician, even playing accordion alongside Itzhak Perlman. Why did you switch careers?

A I exhausted that instrument. And by that time, my interests shifted. I discovered mathematics and other things like painting, and I kind of stumbled upon architecture because it combined so many of my interests.

Q Do you have any advice for aspiring architects?

A Don’t just go with the trends — think for yourself. Think of the less obvious things.

Q What’s your favorite building?

A It’s so hard to say. Impossible! It’s like asking, what’s your favorite piece of music? Each building sets up a mood.

Q Is there a style you loathe?

A I loathe neutral architecture. The idea of creating a space — a box — with no expression in it. To me it’s a very violent act.